Act of Demon or Work of God
by Bloc Manitoban
Summary: In the world of Hellsing, much happens beyond Alucard and the Hellsing Organisation. The story of a group of vampire hunters and their battle with the vampire group, the Lost Boys.
1. Down to the River to Pray

"_As I went down to the river to pray_

_Studyin' about that good ol' way _

_And who shall wear the starry crown?_

_Good Lord show me the way!_"

Alison Krauss (Down To The River To Pray)

----

"Come down from there Brigid! You know if you fall in I won't jump after you."

"Oh! You worry too much, I won't fall! Anyway, you know I hate being called Brigid, so why do you keep calling me that?"

On the hot mid-summer day, twelve year old Brigid Mehetabel Taggart balanced herself as she walked on the wide railings of a steel bridge that crossed over the River Towy in Carmarthen, Wales. Next to her with a book in one hand and an eye on her younger friend was Taggart's best friend Laura Nell Vaughan. Both girls lived at the Saint Colette orphanage and even though they didn't ask permission to leave, Taggart was able convince the more cautious Laura that it would be a crime to stay cooped up on such an nice day. So when no one was looking, both girls snuck out.

"Well I just think it's a nice name and it sounds more pleasant, more girly then Taggart! Taggart sounds like it should be a strange boy's name," Laura chuckled as she glanced up from her book in order to look at Taggart with both her eyes before adding, "But yet again I guess that suits you. You'd probably would make a better boy than girl anyway."

Taking a playful swing towards her friend but making sure it wasn't too large, so that she wouldn't loose her balance, the small girl just murmured out, "Hey jerk!" as they continued to walk across the long bridge. As sad as it was, the comment that Laura made was true as even though they both were wearing matching red and white dresses, it was a well known fact that Taggart was forced into wearing hers.

Laura merely took a small steep away from Taggart's reach and slowly closed up her book to spend more time talking with her friend. "Hey it's true now! We have a bet back home about who's more like a man, you or Jacob! My money's on you and if you keep this up, looks like I'll be up a good shilling or two."

Jacob Rukavok was another friend back at the orphanage, closer in age to Laura then Taggart, he was well known for his pranks and troublesome behavior. The only reason he wasn't with the two girls now was because he was writing out passages of the Bible with Father Bruns as punishment for adding a 'sinful' and unwanted ingredient to the Holy Water.

"So sue me, I don't like dresses. You can't play in them at all, but really when you think about it, is there anything wrong with not liking dresses?" Taggart shrugged her shoulders, keeping her eyes down on the narrow railing and the quick moving river below. "And dolls just creep me out, so lifeless looking. Just there is something wrong with dolls, it's like they're living but not really…"

Suddenly the small girl lost her footing on the railing and fell backwards into the River Towy with a splash. The current was strong at this time of year and being a poor swimmer, it didn't take long for her to be completely engulfed into the ranging waves of the river. In desperation she tried to fight her way to the surface, once in a while making it but only to inhale a mouthful of water every time she tried to take a breath. Running out of air and strength, the idea that she might die became more and more real.

Only a split second passed, but to Taggart it seemed like hours, before Laura swiftly dropped her book on the wooden bridge and jumped in after her younger friend. There was brief moment of comfort to Taggart when she heard the splash of her friend jumping in the river, knowing how strong of a swimmer Laura was but this quickly passed as she started to lose the battle for air against the powerful current. Feeling herself starting to sink lower and lower, unable to fight back to the surface, all Taggart could do was pray as she saw the light from the surface starting to fade away. She didn't want to die, not now at least.

To Taggart it was an angel who took hold of her, tugging on her dress and around her pulling her up towards the light once more. Moving closer and closer she realized it was not an angle but her friend Laura that was dragging her towards the surface. Nothing in the world felt better then that first breath the little girl took since she fell in the river. Naturally coughing out water so that her lungs can breath the air better, she glanced over in exhaustion and relief to see Laura holding her tightly, pulling her towards the banks. In that moment Taggart felt eternally thankful to Laura for saving her from what seemed to be a certain death.

As they came closer to the sides of the river she mustered enough strength to grab hold of a low hanging branch from one of the near by trees in effort to help ease the burden she must be on her rescuer. Pulling herself closer to the muddy riverside she nearly loss her grip as the water tried to reclaim what it had lost with one final push of the rough current. Taggart immediately held the branch tighter and closer to her body, closing her eyes in fear of the water and the death it nearly brought her once today. It was only when she reopened her eyes several minutes later, the young girl was able to pull herself completely out of the water and onto the solid mud ground.

Still coughing out water and completely exhausted she weakly smiled and fell onto her back, feeling so fortunate to be alive after such a death defying experience. "I thought," she started with a tone just a bit louder than a whisper, breathing heavily between words, "I thought you wouldn't jump in after me." The smile on Taggart's face just wouldn't leave as she slowly forced herself to sit up and look at Laura, but as she looked around she realized Laura was no where to be found and slowly the smile faded.

That was the last time she saw Laura Nell Vaughan again.


	2. Youth of the Nation

"_Last day of the rest of my life _

_I wish I would've known _

_Cause I didn't kiss my mama goodbye"_

P.O.D. (Youth of the Nation)

----

"Now if I simplify the left hand side, moving the tangent over here and adding this. THERE! Right hand side equals left hand side and done!"

It was late but not for the high school student, Lavie M. Woods who was working on the advance math assignment given to her to do over the summer holidays. Although these trigonometry identities weren't something taught until grade twelve, this soon-to-be grade eleven student was studding ahead like she always tended to do. It seemed like her best friend was a text book, which explained why she always got the highest mark in every class and was expected to get every scholarship out there.

Looking at the next identity problem, moving her left hand into an open bag of 'all dressed' potato chips and pulling one out, this night seemed like every other night for her. Lavie's mom was in the next room fast asleep and her dad could be found in the church, preparing for next Sunday's sermon. Although many kids she went to school with found it odd that her house was connected to the church her father ministers, she never thought once that it was strange and soon realized that it all boils down to what you were used to.

Popping the chip in her mouth she stretched and chewed the chip before moving one of her dark brown, near black, hairs out of her eyes and getting back to work. She loved long hair but did hate the fact on how it always fell in front of her face. Looking back to her studies, it was completely silent except for the sound of the rain hitting her bedroom window and the occasional crack of distant thunder. There was something about thunderstorms Lavie just loved and as she wrote down the next problem, she was unaware that at the large wooden doors of the church stood four teenage boys with evil intentions.

The boys, ranging in age from sixteen to twenty one, were soaked by the rain yet not one of them seemed to be bothered by it. Holding steel baseball bats, crowbars and machetes, the leader of this small gang moved slowly to the door and briskly knocked on the wooden doors. "I'll be right there," A voice called out and the boys looked back at each other with cruel smirks, all had a vicious look in their red eyes. As the large door opened, the four attackers prepared to lunge like a predator on it's prey. It was time to teach this old man respect, it was time to get revenge.

Unsuspecting of the danger he was in, the man rose a brow as he looked out to the darkness and at the boys, "what?" he questioned when his eyes caught sight of their weapons, confused in the situation. Soon after he gathered his wits and darted away from the door, knowing it was hopeless to try and over power them by closing the door. Instead the minister desperately ran for the telephone at the back of the church, he must get help and quick.

"Look-e-here, we found our selves a lil' church mouse," Spoke the smallest of the group, hitting the steal bat against his left hand in a threading motion as he made his way towards the man. The leader folded his arms and chuckled at this, the boys weren't in any rush and if anything loved to torment their victims mentally before they delivered the physical torture.

One of the more muscular teens of the group, a man with dark brown skin and a crowbar in his hand corrected the small teen, "More like a church RAT, ta me." He spat towards the minister, growling enough to show his long pointed canines. Unlike the others, he didn't have the same enjoyment from watching people squirm in mental anguish as he preferred causing physical pain more then anything.

Holding a machete and staying silent, the final boy looked at his leader with a confident ready expression but unlike the other boys, he didn't feel it necessary to speak. It wasn't like he couldn't speak, it was just he never liked speaking in loud announcing tones like the others tended to be.

"Connor," The frightened minister shouted into the phone as he heard his friend pick up on the other end with a sleepy hello, "I'm being attacked at home, it's them! It's th," Pain surged though his body as his leg gave out from under him, forcing him to hit the wooden floor with a large thump. Yelling in great pain and holding his injured leg he looked at the darker skinned teenager, who cheerfully grinned back preparing to take another swing with his baseball bat.

Throbbing, there was little doubt in the man's mind that his leg was broken as he looked up and quickly moved his hands to his head to provide some protection to his face as the baseball bat came down once more. A sickening crack echoed though the church, then another followed soon after and many more after that. All four now gathered around the blood covered, curled up figure as they all kicked and beat the man. Sounds of painful yelling, laughter and of bones being broken moved though the halls of the church and soon into Lavie's room.

Confused by the noise at first, she got up from her desk and slowly opened the door with great care. Leaning out into the hallway and following the sound down the hall, she started to realize what it was. Not understanding why she was hearing such horrible sounds, the teenage girl tried to justify them as someone leaving the television on too loud as she continued to investigate the noise.

She was so thankful when the haunting sounds stopped but soon she wished it hadn't as the eerie silence that followed was far worse. The noise led her to the church and carefully peering around the door frame, she caught sight of the four boys gathered around a bloody mess. At first she couldn't recognized what they were looking at, what was in the middle of them but soon she realized that the moaning pile of blood was her father.

Terrified and angered, she had little time to think clearly as she immediately grabbed the closest blunt object near her. Holding the long iron candle stand she ran at the group, hitting the smallest teen to the floor with one mighty surprise blow with the stand. She then swung it around to hit the leader but quicker then she could see, he rose his hand and caught the weapon in mid swing. He didn't even flinch as he brought it to a dead stop, something Lavie had never seen in her life.

"Hey there little tigeress, you're going to poke an eye out swinging this around thang," His red eyes locked with her green ones as a dirty smirk formed on his mouth. Shivers ran up the girl's spine as she tried to fight the stand out of his hand with no luck, finally giving up on it she pushed it towards the leader and started to dash back towards the door. Before she got close, the silent teen slammed it shut and blocked her way out.

Throwing down the iron stand with a loud clang, the teenage boy moved closer to Lavie with nothing but evil intentions in his mind. Stepping over the semi-conscious form of her dad, he chuckled in amusement to himself and acted like he was thinking deeply about something. She tried to sprint away but the darker skinned teen quickly stopped her and between the three teens she ended up cornered against a wall.

"That fuckin' bitch, I'm goina to fuck her extra rough for that!" The small one yelled as he rose to his feet, rubbing his sore jaw and wiping the blood that slowly trickled from his nose. Rushing over towards her he paused in rage when the leader lazy lifted his hand to silently command him to stop moving. With a grumble the small teen demanded, "What! It's only fair I get to bang'er first after how she bang me!"

These words terrified her to death, they terrified her to a place worse then death. Quickly looking for a way to escape she prayed for her father getting up and fighting them off, making it better. As she looked at his horribly beaten figure on the ground though, she realized quickly that it wasn't likely to happen. But this can't happen, no they probably don't mean what she thought they meant. As there must be some humanity, some conscious left in these men.

The leader just stood there, his eyes not once left Lavie's as his hand stayed up as a constant reminder of how he didn't want anyone to move closer to her. Only he came closer, with long strides and a swaying motion to his movement. "Now come on, something this pretty doesn't belong among the foul ranks of the dammed." He stated in a simple matter, talking about the girl like she was some sort of prized flower or favorite painting rather than a person. "Anyway, virgin blood always tastes better. Wouldn't you agree old man?"

The last part was spoken louder, to rub the fact into the face of Lavie's father. He stirred slightly at those words, groaning in pain as he spat out a mouth full of blood and a few teeth. "Leave," he started, his voice so weak it could be barely heard. Having a problem catching his breath, it was obvious he was in great pain yet still struggled to speak, "her, alone." Speaking more then one word was almost too difficult but trying to push past the pain and taking another breath he added, "your, fights with me."

"Oh?" the leader spoke, glancing over at the man before chuckling, "you're quite right. It is with you, so I guess it's appropriate that we let you watch. It's a good show, a double feature to be precise. First we'll turn her and then we'll fuck her. Don't worry though as this is all thanks to you really, you and that I.D.D.T.U." This was too much fun for him and so as the teenager moved over to Lavie, he reached over to grab her. She struggled in his grip but this only made him hold on to her tighter, so tight she gave a little cry in pain.

Desperately trying to escape with no luck, her eyes started to water in fear of what will happen. The leader dragged her in front of her father and he held her from behind. With one arm rapped around her stomach while the other grabbed onto her hair, he gave out a cruel laughter before pulling her hair and exposing her neck. Lavie had no clue what was going on but soon a sharp pain was felt on her neck, followed by a cold numbing. Trying to fight back she slowly felt herself loosing control of her moments and finally she just laid limp in his arms, paralyzed and eventually loosing conscious.

As everything was going dark a loud gun shot could be heard, followed by the teenagers swearing and yelling. Feeling herself being dropped on the ground next to her father, she struggled to keep awake but she was tired and just wanted to sleep. The last image Lavie Mary Woods saw before everything disappeared what her father, the horrified look on his face and the love they once had.

That was the last time she ever saw her father again.


	3. Burn

"_Don't talk of worlds that never were_

_The end is all that's ever true_

_There's nothing you can ever say_

_Nothing you can ever do..."_

The Cure (Burn)

----

The crescent moon provided little light to the deserted streets of London, and even less light to the dark alleys. Closed shop signs buzzed and the only other sound that could be heard was the clippity-clack of a woman running in high heals. Fearful and desperate, the woman was exhausted from running. She knew though, that to stop running would mean her death and so she forced herself to keep moving.

Looking about twenty five years old and in a crimson formal dress, the woman's eyes started to tear up as the idea of death started to take its effect on her. Focused mainly on escaping and living though this horrible nightmare, the woman slowly realized that she couldn't run forever. Loosing her breath, the woman immediately started to searched the street for a place to hide instead. Seeing how easily the shadows hid objects in the alleys, she slid into the nearest one and pressed herself tightly against the brick wall. Breathing deeply and doing her best to stay as silent as she could, the woman could only hope that the shadows would hide her as well.

Then she heard it.

Steps. They pounded in a heavy rhythm like a drum, at first distantly but with every beat it became louder. Closer. Closing her eyes in fear as if not looking would make everything go away, she could only pray that the steps would walk past her and leave her alone. The fear forced her to whine faintly under her breath as the tears gently fell down her pale cheeks. She didn't want to die, she was too young to die.

Abruptly the steps stopped and not a sound could be heard for several seconds but the woman's terrified cries and the buzz of neon signs. She tried her best to stay calm by reminding herself that she won't die, that someone will come to her rescue or that she'll escape. Finally the alarming silence forced her to slowly open her eyes, glancing around the dark shadows in hopes that the stalker would have walked right past but deep down inside she knew that wasn't the case.

Then she saw it.

Standing at the end of the ally was a black silhouette looking back at the frightened woman. Few details could be seen at first but as the figure approached, more features started to appear. It was a woman around the same age as the intended victim and on her face was a pleased smirk. Wearing darker cloths and a trench coat over that, little else could be seen except the golden cross at her neck that reflected the dim light of the moon. That and the black anti-freak glock gun in her hand.

Breathing deeply the hunted woman pushed herself off of the brick wall to quickly continue running down the ally, away from this gun welding woman. She didn't get far before her high heels broke, causing her to fall face first to the ground. Her mind told her to continue to run, escape or die but as she scampered to get up she found it nearly impossible to get back onto her feet and could only then turn onto her back to face her attacker.

Crawling backwards and desperately doing her best to keep the distance from the other woman, she soon felt the cold painful jab of her back hitting a chain link fence and knew there was no other place to go. Even though her eyes were blurry and red, not once did she break the stare she had into the eyes of the stalker.

Standing only a few feet away, the black gun was lifted to take aim at the woman's head, it's movements were sharp and cold as the weapon was put into place. It was obvious that the woman had done this many times before and wasn't hesitant in doing it again. Praying and whimpering the woman could only mutter though her shaky voice one phrase, 'I don't want to die, please, I don't want to die'. It was repeated over and over again, every time less clear as her voice got more like a mutter and her head faintly shook with it.

In a dark deep tone the attacker took no notice of the woman's pleas for her life as she spoke, "Now," she started, not once did the smirk leave her mouth, "the God of peace be with you." The doomed woman's eyes widened greatly to this, her mutterings became so silent they were barely heard and she knew what would be happening next. A paralyzing chill surged though her shaken body as she begged more and more, but the other woman took no notice as she added, "Amen."

A single gun shot echoed off the walls of the ally and silence then soon followed. Finished with the job, the twenty-one year old Brigid Taggart slowly slid her black gun into it's hidden holster under the trench coat. Still smirking she glanced up at the moon before giving a satisfied chuckle to herself, silently leaving the ally. Minutes later the sound of distant police sirens broke the deadly silence, yet by the time they arrived no one but the crescent moon would know what happened in the shadows of London.


	4. Crazy Train

"_Crazy, but that's how it goes_

_Millions of people living as foes_

_Maybe it's not to late_

_To learn how to love_

_And forget how to hate"_

_Ozzy Osborne (Crazy Train)_

----

"You sure about this place Laive? This city seems a bit, well, clichéd if you ask me."

Opening up the old wooden door with a creak, the man's large hands were full of heavy boxes as he looked for a place in the already packed room to set them down. Behind him followed a teenage woman chuckling as she carried only one, and a light one at that. Seeing a place to set down his heavy load, the man slowly eased them down with a grunt before standing straight up again. Stretching his back he could only think about how he was getting too old for this and perhaps ordering a moving company like Lavie suggested would had been a smarter idea.

"Well then Major Fairbairn, how about I let you pick the city next time. Anyway, there's something about London that just, draws me here. Perhaps it's the old architecture, the wonderful history or maybe just the extremely sexy accents English men have." Laughing at the disapproving glare that the man shot at her,

Lavie placed her small box on top of the large pile that Major Fairbairn set down only seconds before.

Turning to leave and get another load she paused when the man shook his head and warned her, "As long as you don't run off with one of those English men, than I guess London is just as good of a city as any eh?" Allowing a smile to grow on his face and lighten the mood, he started to slowly move back towards the door as well.

"But just because you're now living away form home, don't start thinking that there won't be any house rules. You're father placed you under my care and you're my responsibility now. Also," Moving down the many apartment stairs, glancing back once in a while to make sure Lavie followed and heard every word as they made their way back down to the main floor, "you don't have to call me Major Fairbairn, Connor will do just as nicely."

Lavie paused in the lobby of the apartment to avoid the sunlight outside, while Connor walked past her and to the truck. Finding a very light box and tossing that towards Lavie, he lifted a stack of heavier boxes and moved back towards her. Lavie quickly examined the box in her hands before following him back up the stairs, "alright then Connor. How about you lay some of these rules down on me, dawg."

"Rule one," His voice was a bit strained from caring the boxes but when they reached Lavie's floor, he set them down on the ground in order to rest a bit, "never speak like that again! You're a white, church girl." Connor chuckled, finding it funny how today's youth was imitating the black culture and not realizing how stupid it made them look. Picking the boxes back up again as Lavie opened the door he added, "Live with it."

Keeping the door open as he walked past, Lavie placed her box down on top of the pervious pile before turning to watch Connor put down his pile and flop in exhaustion on the mattress they brought up earlier. Just as she was about to speak, the man continued stating the new house rules, "Rule two, no boys over. Unless I'm home with you guys. Don't want any kinky business happening."

Moving over to the sink to get a glass of water but realizing that all her cups were in one of the many boxes, Lavie ran the tap and used her hands to cup some water. Speaking quickly, she made sure to get her few sarcastic cents in about rule number two, "Yeah, because we all know that I'm just one wild child!" It was amusing to her, being that she never even had a boyfriend, let alone think of doing anything 'kinky' with him.

"Well one can't be too cautious, and I just don't want to see some boy taking advantage of you," Still laying on his back on the mattress, Connor continued on, "Anyway, rule three. No weapons, drugs, alcohol, smoking, illegal stuff. Last thing I want is to explain to the local police why your eyes are red, you have no pulse and why you seem to disagree with sunlight." Struggling to sit up and look at Lavie he smiled faintly then added, "Also, I don't want to explain to your father why we need bail money. He might get a little pissed, not at you though, but at me!"

Turning off the water and whipping her wet hands on her baby blue skirt, the teenage girl moved towards Connor in order to sit next to him, "Like I said, don't worry about this stuff. You know me, my idea of a 'rowdy' time is when I decide to eat a whole pack of Pixie Sticks and play 'let's find the most boring thing on T.V. and watch it'!"

Connor slowly moved his hand and pat her gently on the shoulder with it, "If that's the case, I think we'll get along fine eh?" Resting his hand on her shoulder for a moment before he pushed himself up and back onto his feet, the man stretched before finishing up his rules in more of a short form, "Oh and if you go out, tell me where and when you'll be back. No drinking blood unless it's animal or medical. And finally, any friends you make, I want to meet with them first. Alright?"

"Let me guess, these rules are subject to change when ever you feel like it and without notice," she answered back sarcastically, looking up at him with a joking expression on her face. Lavie didn't mind these rules, most of them she lived by anyway so it wasn't going to be a drastic change. Although now she saw herself using the internet a lot more as it will just be an easier way to 'make friends' with normal people, without freaking them out.

Glancing down at her and shaking his head slightly at that remark he muttered, "smart ass." Moving towards a box labeled 'more kitchen stuff' and opening it up to dig out a cup, the man then made his way to the sink and ran the water, "Just call it a benefit for being the legal adult here." Placing the up under the water and drinking from it, he turned around to face her again before switching off the tap.

Out of boredom, Lavie stretched before remembering a question she had on the plane to London earlier that day. Connor said he would answer it when they got here, before nailing her coffin shut in order to make the trip across water more bearable. Even then though, the trip was horrible and the experience nearly made her forget all about how he promised to answer any questions she had later. Now that it was over, she felt the need to ask that burning question again. "Hey Connor, remember when you said you would explain fully what's going on when we have a moment in London?" Keeping her eyes on the man, she took notice how his facial expression quickly changed from happy-go-lucky to a dreading sadness.

"yeah, and I guess that moment is now eh?" Connor's eyes drifted down to the small glass of water in his hands as he slowly turned the cup in one direction with his fingers before stopping and turning it in the other direction, as if this constant movement would give him the answers.

Lavie nodded with anticipation noticing how the last few weeks were chaotic and every time she tried to find out the whole story, someone would try to dodge the question or tell her 'later' in hopes that she'll just never ask again. Now though, there was no way she was going to let Connor out of not answering her questions and she was glad that he didn't automatically dismiss or deny anything. Now it seemed like the moment of truth was only minutes away.

"Well," Connor began, his eyes still focused on the rotating cup in his hands. With a faint shrug of his broad he continued, "you might not be aware of this before but your father is part of a demon hunting organization called the International Demon Defense and Technologies United, or just IDDTU for short. It's more of an international demon hunting group. Pretty much like the UN of the demon hunting groups."

Her eyes never left him and her ears were trained to listen to every word. Lavie only sat there in wonderment of how well her father kept that a secret to her all these years. Although when she thought about it, that would explain her father's occasional disappearance. Even though her mother always made a reason for his absence, she now realized how poorly made the excuses were but at the time she believed them as she had no reason to question them. Not wanting to interrupt Connor, she just sat there in silence.

"I'm part of the Royal Canadian Human Protection Force and although we're a Canadian demon hunting organization, many times our two agencies work together on larger projects or projects that might occur in Canada and the international front." The man glanced up at her to make sure she understood this, or was at least paying attention. He had a feeling she won't understand most of this and that he'll have to re-explain it later, but for now he'll just carry on. "Now the gang that attacked you and your father are called 'The Lost Boys'. I was first assigned to them months ago when they were wrecking havoc in the Nova Scotia, New Brunswick area and I followed them when they crossed the boarder into Maine. Apparently to the reports your father was involved in many counter raids against 'The Lost Boys' while they were in Maine, and that's why I believe they targeted your father."

Lavie was a bit confused but more overwhelmed then anything. It was a lot to take in at once but thinking she understood it, she asked a question that was burning in her mind ever since she regained conscious in the secretive IDDTU hospital. "Okay, but really what happened that night? Like, right before I passed out, I heard a gun shot and someone dropped me. What happened then and why doesn't my father ever want to see me?"

Moving his free hand to his face and massaging the bridge of his nose, he tried to think of the best way to answer the really difficult question she asked. Starting with the easier one of the two he started explained what had happened that night when he arrived, "Well your father phoned me for help that night and luckily I was in town following The Lost Boys trail. When I arrived, you were already bitten and in the arms of the lead vampire known as David. Naturally I drew my gun and fired at him, he dropped you in surprise and I'm not fully sure why, but they decided to leave. Perhaps I scared them off or they thought more were on their way, I just don't know for sure. Checking on you and your father, I called the IDDTU for assistance and well, that's pretty much it."

Removing his hand in order to look at Lavie better he took a deep breath before starting on the next question, the hard question, "And about your father. Well, you're a vampire now and even though you would probably still be welcomed at home, he feared that radical 'anti-vampire' groups would find out and hunt you down. Not only that but there might be rumors and other, negative results, to you living with an IDDTU agent. So in his desperation he asked me to look after you for a while and get you settled somewhere of your choice. Don't worry about money, he's set up an account and will give you a decent monthly allowance for you to live on." Connor trailed off, sighing while looking away at her, "I'm sorry but it would be best if you never see, talk or write to him again. As to him."

"you died that night."

Tears formed up in Lavie's eyes at the thought of never seeing or hearing from her father again. To her, it was just like she heard he was dead and in that moment she felt more alone then she did five minutes ago. Now she realized why many people were dodging the question before and wanted to say something to Connor, but no words came out. She just sat there, in disbelief and loneliness.

The older man placed his cup down on a near by box and sat next to her, rapping his arm around her and proving a shoulder for her to weep on if she wanted too. "But you know Laive," he started as she moved closer to him, welcoming his touch, "I'll always be here for you." Connor reminded her as he figured she might just feel a bit lost and alone now. When he looked over into her blurry eyes, he smiled in a warm and trusting way. For that moment he saw his eldest daughter in Lavie, which made his fatherly instincts come out, "and there is nothing in this world that will change that."


	5. One Week

"_I'm the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral_

_Can't understand what I mean?_

_Well, you soon will."_

_Barenaked Ladies (One Week)_

----

On the outskirts of London, stood a nearly forgotten church. It was a small church, an old church but it was his church and that was all that mattered to the twenty-seven year old priest. He carefully lit every candle on the alter and took great care to make sure that nothing was damaged in this daily ritual. Placing the wooden match in the steal ashtray and taking a step back, Father Jacob Rukavok chuckled to himself as he glanced over his shoulder as his life long friend, Sister Brigid Taggart.

In a traditional habbit that never suited her, Taggart had finished sweeping the church and was trying to reach the dustpan on the top shelf of the closet. Jacob found it amusing how she kept leaping into the air in an effort to grab the pan but miss every time. Moving over to her, he smiled at her attempts before folding his arms lazily and leaning back in a more comfortable stance. "Vertically challenged are we?" the man jested, keeping the atmosphere between them friendly.

"Well, it's better then being horizontally challenged I guess," she turned to face him, pausing her attempts of reaching the dustpan to leaned on the broom in her hand instead. He usually made fun about how short she was compared to him and it was one of many constant inside jokes. Yet when she thought about it, many people were short when they were compared to him.

Jacob lifted an eye brow and questioned her, while poking what little fat he had, "are you implying that I'm fat? 'cause for the record, I'm not fat but just big boned." He then moved past her to easily reach the dustpan and brought it down from the top shelf. Reaching over for the broom in Taggart's hand he offered, "I can finish up here, if you want. You've been quite a large help already."

"It's the least I can do," Taggart cheerfully allowed him to take the broom, feeling there was little point to reject knowing that he would win the argument. Dusting her hands and giving a little stretch she watched him place the dustpan down and eventually sweep the dust in. Standing for a moment she felt a bit out of place and started to moved towards the kitchen, "Anyway would you like some tea?"

He chuckled to her question, "Do you remember Sister Dorothy and her afternoon tea time?" still sweeping the dust into the pan, the man didn't look up from his work. It was the way she asked about tea and the habbit she wore that brought that question to his head, although it wasn't much of a question as he knew she would remember Sister Dorothy. The sister wasn't someone anyone could easily forget.

"How could I ever forget Sister Dorky, she was the clumsiest person I had ever met!" Watching him, she found it an odd question for him to ask but was interested in why he brought her up. Sister Dorothy was well known in the orphanage for breaking at least one cup or plate a day. It was even rumored that she even broke Brother James' leg once, by tripping over her feet and knocking him down the stairs.

Pausing in his work to stand up, he leaned lazily on the broom and looked at Taggart as they reminisced about their childhood memories. It was fun to remember the good times they had together while growing up, many times it was the small and stupid things they did that was the best to look back on. "Well just I had a flash back to the time we put salt in her afternoon tea instead of sugar."

"We? If I remember right it was you who did that, and me who got punished." Taggart corrected as she chuckled, although in all honestly he was always there to get her out of trouble just as quickly as she got into it. What she found more hilarious was the fact that who would have guessed that they would grow up to be part of the church.

"Yeah but you have to admit that was pretty funny, especially when she spat it all out into Father Bruns' face. Man he was so crossed," It was like it happened yesterday, hiding in the brushes with Taggart as they watched the sister spit tea all over Father Bruns' and the shade of red both turned. If only Taggart could have contained her laughter, they both would have gotten off punishment free.

"Crossed would be putting it lightly. Oh, I should go put that kettle on as it won't do it by itself!" She excused herself, eventually making her way into the kitchen with a smile that from their last conversation. It was the times like this that made Jacob feel like a big brother other then a friend, the memories and the fact that she knew deep down inside that Jacob would do anything to make sure she's alright.

Jacob lifted the dustpan and emptied it outside, pausing for a moment to enjoy the warmth of the sun. Leaving the door open in order to allow the wonderful breeze and light in, he moved back to the closet to put the broom and dustpan away. It was then he heard a loud crash come from the kitchen, followed by a loud 'Shit!' being yelled from the small room. Shaking his head in silent disapproval at the profanity, he made his way to the small wooden table and made it ready for tea by placing down napkins and costars. The whistle soon echoed off the church's walls and Taggart came out of the kitchen with two cups of tea in her hands.

"You know what I take in my tea?" Jacob asked, amazed that the cup she handed to him already had cream and sugar in it. A bit weary though of what she might have done to it, he sat down at the table to talk first and hopefully switch the cups to be on the safe side, "Anyway I'm actually going down to Vatican City for a while, since my countless letters about how forgotten this place is seems to be continually being stolen, I figured it's best to go down in person. So I'm leaving tomorrow morning, which is a shame as I would have loved to spend more time with you being that you just got here."

He waited until she sat down across from him and place her cup on the table to cool before he continued, "Well I guess the point is that I'll be away for several days and I was hopping you can look after the church while I'm gone." Knowing she would eventually start allowing her eyes to wonder, Jacob just waited for the perfect moment then he switched their tea cups just incase she did put something in his.

Taggart was glancing around the church while her friend talked, taking note of the beautiful stain glass windows and how many there were before her focus was back on Jacob. With confidence she shrugged, "I think I can manage that, anyway what's the worse that can happen? The place will burn down. Well we needed a new church anyway right, so I don't think you have much to worry about." She joked with him, taking a sip of the tea.

Noticing how she sipped her tea and was fine, he realized how childish he was for suspecting that it wouldn't be. "Really, the worse thing that could happen is that the Vatican listens to what I say and I get a flock. Man writing Sunday sermons are such a pain you know!" He finally lifted up his cup of tea to take a sip only to then taste a horrible flavor.

Salt.

Taggart laughed full heartedly at her friend as he spat it out onto the table, "Oh Jacob you're far too predictable!" She told him and soon Jacob joined in the laughter. The good times like this is why Taggart fought in the unknown Hellish wars, she fought to keep people like Jacob safe. She did fear that being there could put him in great danger but dismissed that as unlikely to happen, not if she did her job right.


End file.
